Whatever I face
by Amber Anne
Summary: When Buffy finds out Dawn is going to Sunnydale High, she sends her to Angel over the summer. Guess who is meets? brats story
1. Chapter 1

Whatever I face

Amber Mention of the episode "Grave"

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot of this fanfiction.

Summary: Dawn is living with Angel and the crew the summer after the episode "Grave". The events of "Tomorrow" never happened.

Chapter 1

"Dawn" Buffy yelled as she walked into the door. She dropped the mail on the counter. "I'm home."

"Hold on" Dawn yelled. She was getting ready for a meeting at the mall with her friends. They needed to see what they wanted for school shopping in September. It was only June. She ran down the stairs. "How do I look?"

"Fine" Buffy didn't look up. "There's a letter from your school."

"Oh really? From Sunnydale High?"

"What?" Buffy looked up. "No, I demolished the place years ago."

"They're rebuilding it."

"Oh" Buffy replied. She never heard about this. Even though she the gang had told her many times, she shrugged it off. After dying and Willow's incident, she really didn't have time to think about it at all. She read the letter. "Why are they rebuilding now?"

"The district can't afford sending busses to and fro to the other district anymore." Dawn answered in a matter-of-factly voice.

"But building the school would cost more, and on the hell mouth as well."

"Don't ask me" Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not the politician"

"We have to send you to another school"

"You can't." Dawn spoke up. "Private school costs too much and she wouldn't be able to send her to another district."

"You can't go. You're a little girl." Buffy was stretching her limitations. "How bout you drop out. The SCC's got a good GED program."

"No Buffy" Dawn was furious. "I might not be normal, but a kinda normal life. Even though I live here in the Hell mouth, want something that normal people have." Dawn caught her breath. "That's a high school education. Even though you live a crazy life, I don't need too as well. I may be the slayer's sister. But that's all I am the slayer's sister. Nothing else."

"Whatever" Buffy blew off Dawn's plea. "You need to know how to fight off whatever comes to you in high school."

"You can show me." She was exasperated.

"No, I can't" Buffy explained. "I have work to do, and things to kill. But I know someone who will." She picked up the phone and dialed his number.


	2. Chapter 2

Whatever I face-Chapter 2

Rebecca Mention of Grave, that's about it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but an ipod shuffle, and I only own half of that. Don't sue me.

Summary: Dawn is sent to LA to live with Angel to learn how to fight. She meets someone special along the way.

"Are you sure you want to go away for the summer?" Buffy asked Dawn at the bus station. She was going to miss her. Truth was, she was planning on having her first summer with Dawn. Dawn was technically two years old and she never actully got to spend time with her.

"I'm sure." Dawn was pretty excited on going. She didn't have to worry about everyone thinking she was a baby and couldn't watch over herself. "It will probably be good for the both of us. You can go party without knowing I'm right there watching you. And I can go be a teenager and shop and not have to worry about demons going bump in the night."

Buffy sighed. "I guess you're right. I got you something." She pulled a box out of her purse. "It's something you'll probably need over there ti be apart of the hip crowd and to..." Buffy was trailing.

Dawn opened the box. "A cell phone! Oh my god I love you." She gave Buffy a hug.

"That all I needed to do to get that reaction from you? Wow!" Buffy was floored at the teenager's reaction. I got the family plan with Xander, so you can call us for free. Don't call anyone else before nine; I will see the bill sometime."

"Okay Buff, but thank you" Dawn was still hugging Buffy.

"Dawn. The bus just arrived. You better get going." Buffy was upset to see her go, but knew it was the right thing to do. Dawn even mentioned it to her.

"Okay. I'll call you when I get there. Thanks Buff." Dawn was walking backwards toward the bus.

"If anything goes wrong don't forget."

"I'll call" She got on the bus. Dawn waved to Buffy as the buss drove off.


	3. Chapter 3

Whatever I face-Chapter 3

Rebecca Mention of Grave, that's about it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but an ipod shuffle, and I only own half of that. Don't sue me.

Summary: Dawn is sent to LA to live with Angel to learn how to fight. She meets someone special along the way.

Dawn was met at the Los Angelus bus station with fear. She could not see anyone that was remotely familiar to her. Forgetting she had a cell phone, for about an hour she wandered about the station. Eventually she felt a hand on her shoulder. Out of reflex, she tried to kick her opponent out.

"Whoa, Whoa" A blonde woman replied. "Hey"

"Who are you?" Dawn was embarrassed but still on guard.

"Cordelia" She answered. "Don't you remember me? Well I understand why not, because you were little when we met" Cordelia was trailing. "I'm sorry, we never met. I tried" She shook her hand.

"Oh Okay." Dawn was a little apprehensive, but followed her lead.

"So where's your bags?"

"This is it"

"It can't be?"

"Yeah" Dawn was ashamed. Since her mother's death, there hasn't been enough money to buy new clothes. She has been wearing Buffy's hand-me-downs, what little there's left seeing that her sister ripped through most of them. "It is"

"Oh we'll change that." Cordelia replied. "Angel's got enough money to spare." She put her arm around Dawn's shoulder. "I think you'll have fun here in LA."

"Angel lives here?" Dawn asked Cordelia as she pulled up to the hotel.

"Yeah" She replied Kinda whimsical, ain't it?

"Yeah it kinda is" Dawn opened up the door with a look on her face of astonishment. She couldn't believe her eyes. The place was old and as Cordy said whimsical. The vines wrapped around the place reminded her of the old Madeline stories her mother read to her as a child. Cordelia grabbed her bag since Dawn was too busy admiring the scenery.

Dawn walked slowly towards the door. She was turning the doorknob when suddenly a woman jumped up at her. "Hi, I'm Fred!" She was a perky young woman. She had long flowing brunette hair. Dawn realized the aura around that was much like Tara, with a much more perkiness to her. "You must be Dawn. If you aren't then I'd be embarrassed, since then it's like that whole waving at that person you don't know just because their waving at you and then you find out they aren't waving to you at all. I'm rambling aren't I?"

Dawn let out a small laugh. "It's okay, yeah I am Dawn." She extended her right hand.

Fred embraced it. "Nice to meet you."

"You too."

"Well then." Fred looked up to notice Cordelia struggling with Dawn's bag. "Cordy, do you need any help?"

"Yeah" She grunted. "Dawn, what do you have in there? A dead body."

"Oh no" Dawn grabbed the bag. "Buffy made me pack loads of weapons. She was afraid the boogie man would come out and get me. I told her that was a bunch of crap though. What kind of demon lives in Los Angeles anyway?"

Just then Angel walked out of his office. He was wearing the same attire Dawn remembered him owning from Sunnydale. He was observing a file. "Cordy I need help on this case. Can you help?" He grabbed Dawn's arm.

"Well sure I'm over here." Cordy answered with her arms folded over.

Angel looked up from his reading. "Oh, I'm Sorry Dawn I didn't think you were coming until tom- oh I'm sorry. Are you okay? How did you get here?"

"I'm fine. Cordelia picked me up."

Angel had a look of relief on his face. "Thanks Cordy. I owe you one."

Dawn was intrigued by his behavior. He seemed more pleasant from the first time she had met him. He was a brooding type of guy. Now he was very lighthearted. She wondered why but didn't act on it. The group seemed to work together, better then the Scooby gang ever was. It seemed weird to her, but it felt like home.

Fred showed her up to room. It was across the hall from Angel and Fred if she needed anything. Her room was a beautiful green room. Fred explained to her when they found out she was coming, they started redecorating it to make it feel like home. Dawn was floored at the work they put into it. There were stencils of pink and purple flowers on the walls and a desk space. The headboard even looked new.

"Wow" Dawn exclaimed.

"Yeah, you should see the bathroom. The tub took days to scrub." Fred told her.

"You all outdid yourself."

"All of us and Angel wanted you to feel as comfortable as possible. And how can you be comfortable if here if you don't have a room you can go to at the end of the day and want to spend time there." Fred explained. "I'm going to leave you to your room to check it out. If you need any of us, take the left stairway down. The other side leads to the dining room and it's not pretty."

"I'll take your advice on that." Dawn turned to her. "Thanks. I'll be down in an hour, I want to freshen up."

Fred left the room. Dawn took to more exploring on her own. She found everything she needed in her room. There was even a nook area with a mini fridge and microwave. There was even a little living area with a love seat a television. It was either she was really welcomed or they were some demon cult looking for prey.

Dawn decided to Buffy. She did promise to call her sister. She pulled the phone out of her pocket. The phone started ringing.

"Hello." Dawn answered.

"Hi Dawn." A woman said.

"Yeah Buffy, I was just about to call you."

"Sure you were, Angel just called to tell me you arrived safely." Buffy stated on the other side of the phone. "How's your room look?"

"Great." Dawn started squealing. "I can't believe how great it looks."

"Yeah, it was Angel's idea, don't forget to thank him."

"That was so sweet of him."

"Yeah it was." Buffy started talking business. "Dawn, Angel would like to know if you could do him a favor."

"What's that?"

"He wants you to talk to his son."

"His son?" Dawn was confused. She thought vampires couldn't have children.

"Yeah, his son." Buffy explained. "Long story short, Angel and Darla gave birth to a son who was a prophecy..."

"Didn't Darla try to kill mom? And didn't she die?" Dawn interrupted.

"Yeah, but she came back." Buffy went further. "Well, Connor and Angel's nemesis got sucked into a hell portal where time goes faster and he was taught to hate Angel. He was told somewhat it was a lie and his enemy is gone, but Connor isn't so sure still."

"Oh." Dawn somewhat got it. "So how do I play in?"

"You need to explain to him Angel is good now and isn't bad." Buffy explained. "You also need to be his friend; he doesn't know anyone his age."

"I could do that."

"I know you can."

There was a knock on the door. "Buff, I gotta go. Some one's here."

"Okay, call me later. Bye."

"Bye" Dawn hung up and opened the door. It was Angel. He was standing uncomfortably in the door way.

"Yeah, um hi." Angel said. "The gang wanted to know what you wanted for dinner. It's a tie between Chinese and Mexican. So what do you want?"

"Chinese sounds good."

"Oh" Angel still stood in the doorway. "Okay."

"Do you want to come in?" Dawn realized why he stood uncomfortably. Dawn opened the door wide enough for him to come in.

"Yeah sure." Angel walked in; he started itching the back of his head. "I gotta ask you a favor."

"You want me to talk to your son." Dawn cut him off.

"How'd you know?"

"My sister."

"Oh"

"When do you want me to talk to him?" Dawn asked.

"On Friday." Angel replied. "I asked him to come over to talk. I told him about your desire to learn how to fight. He's interested in helping out."

"Oh really." Dawn was keen on making Angel uncomfortable. " Is he good looking?"

Angel looked down at the floor. "I guess, he got his looks from me."

"So he's got that broody 'I'm so tortured because I got a soul' look"

"I guess you can call it that."

Dawn laughed. "I gotta go freshen up, I'll be down in a minute."

"Okay." Angel left, he closed the door behind her.


	4. Chapter 4

Whatever I face (part 4)  
Amber there might be some R later in the fic I will change the rating when necessary  
Spoilers- mentions of the BtVS season six finale "Grave"  
Summary- Dawn is sent to LA to learn how to fight. Guess who she meets?  
Author's note: I did forget to mention, the season finale of Angel didn't happen. Angel and Cordy did not reveal their feelings and Angel did not sink into the ocean.

Cordelia did keep her promise of new clothes. The very next day she took her to the mall. The women informed her anything she liked she could have. Angel's insisted that the girl needed to feel like she was at home. Dawn was feeling a little apprehensive, but new clothes was new clothes, and no girl can pass that up.

In the mall, Dawn saw a beautiful sweater on the rack. She looked at longingly, but the moment she looked at the price tag, her heart began to sink. She couldn't have that. It was too much to ask for. Cordelia looked at Dawn from the other aisle. She knew that look. It was the same look she had when she found the price of her prom dress back at Sunnydale.

"Go try it on." Cordy snuck up behind Dawn. She jumped.

"No, I can't it will make me want it more." Dawn replied. "It's too much."

"Oh," Cordy looked at the price tag. Her eyes began to widen. "One hundred dollars!"

"It's okay. I don't want it anyway."

"Go try it on."

"I can't"

"Go do it."

"Fine"

Dawn came out of the dressing room with the sweater on. The blue matched her eyes perfectly. Cordelia knew Angel wouldn't care about the money. He was just trying to make-up for nearly killing back in Sunnnydale years back and for agreeing to talk with Connor. Angel knew himself it wasn't an easy task. Cordelia made up her mind whether Dawn liked or not, she was going to have that sweater.

"It's yours"

"I can't" Dawn replied. "It's too much"

"Do what your mother tells you" the shopkeeper said coming out of the shadows. "She's knows what's she's doing"

"I'm sorry she not my daugh-" Cordy tried to reply.

"No, it my mistake."

Dawn and Cordelia soon after had soon finished their shopping. Dawn had soon realized even though her sister's friend matured, she still saw her old habits. Many times in the store, Cordy had found things she liked herself. With Dawns new clothes, she managed to sneak a few items onto the register for herself. She told Dawn it was "their little secret, Angel will never know". As they left the phone rang at the desk.

"Hello, Kim's Fashions" the shopkeeper spoke into the phone. "Yes everything is going to plan."

Dawn walked into the hotel by herself while Cordy was parking the car. She had grown accustom to her over the past few days. She liked the new Cordelia. Last time she had seen the women, she was the Sunnydale bitch, but now she was a mature and somehow grew a heart.

In the hotel there was a strange young man Dawn never met before. She could only assume it was Angel's son. He had that broody face Angel had back in Sunnydale. It was strange though, all he could do was look at her.

The truth was Connor had never seen such a beautiful girl before. He couldn't stop looking at her. That was until a demon came up from behind her.

"Look out" he yelled. She took it seriously. She jumped off the entryway and into the lobby. One thing she knew was that when someone said look out, there was something very not good behind you.

The demon tried to pounce on her. Luckily, Connor jumped into action and started to fight it away. Dawn stood in the corner with awe for a split second. She looked at the beautiful movements he made as he fought the demon, it was near impossible not to look.

"A little help here would be great." He yelled to her. Dawn looked unknowingly for a second before she realized he was without a weapon. Moments later, she was at the weapons cabinet looking for the sharpest axe she could find. She found one in the corner waiting to be of use.

"I found an axe." She yelled back at him.

"Toss it to me"

"Are you sure?" She asked, she didn't know if she could catch it.

"Yes," he was getting impatient. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this thing away from her. "Just throw it to me."

She did throw it to him; with no problem he caught it as if it were a baseball. She watched him swing it into the demon's neck decapitating it. She mouthed a "wow" at what she just saw.

Cordelia walked in the door. "Parking's a bitch here in LA." She noticed a demon head on the floor. "Dawn, it looks like you met Connor."

TBC


	5. Chapter 5

Whatever I face-Chapter 5

Amber Anne

Spoilers: Mention of Grave, that's about it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but an ipod shuffle, and I only own half of that. Don't sue me.

Summary: Dawn is sent to LA to live with Angel to learn how to fight. She meets someone special along the way.

Chapter 5

"Do you know where Angel is?" Connor asked Cordelia. "I need to talk to him."

"No, he's probably working on a case."

"I'll wait." He sat down on the seat in the middle of the lobby.

"Hi, I'm Dawn." The brunette girl spoke to Connor. "You must be Connor." She held out her hand.

"Connor" He ignored her hand. She placed her hand to her side when she realized he wouldn't embrace it.

"Well, I got to put my clothes away." She said picking up her bags. "Connor, I'll see you around."

In her room she couldn't stop thinking how stupid she was. She didn't even know how to defend herself. Sure that's what she was there for, but she was totally helpless. At that thought, there was a knock on her open door.

"Come in" she spoke to the guest. She was facing her closet as the stranger waked in.

"Hi,"greeted the young man. "I'm sorry about that, about earlier."

She turned around, looking at Connor's face. "It's okay. Don't worry about it."

He shifted his body and place his hands into his jean pockets. He looked at his shoes. This was the first time he was this close to a girl alone.

"Do you want to sit down?" She gestured toward the bed.

"Um, yeah, sure." He looked at her. "So what's your story?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well everyone else here is here for some crazy reason. What's yours?"

She sat down next to him, blowing the hair out of your face. "Do you want the long one or the short one?"

"I have all day."

"So you sucked into a portal as a baby and became a demon slayer and killed things?" Dawn took a deep breath. "Wow, now my story looks boring."

"Oh no," Connor looked into her eyes. "You opened up a portal, that's amazing."

"Well, I guess we both have something in common."

"What?"

"We're both unnatural."

"I guess we are"

Both teenagers were lying on the bed. They had been up there for a few hours. Their stories began in an upright manner, but now had them tired. The door was still open from earlier; Cordelia walked by to see what they were doing. She saw this and was ecstatic, her plan had worked. She knew bringing her here would help. Connor had to have had that gene for Summers girls. She saw Angel across the hall and gave him a thumbs up. He came up to her.

"Everything is going to plan." She whispered to Angel in the hallway.

"What do you mean?" Angel was confused.

"He likes her," Angel still gave Cordy a look of confusion. "Like, like likes her."

"Oh," Angel looked at her. "Why do you say that?"

"Go walk past her room, you'll see."

Angel nodded to her and walked past her toward the room. He saw both of the babbling nonsense in their sleep. They had the same position that Cordy and he had only months before, except between them there was a child, baby Connor. He smiled at those simple moments he shared with her. He missed her, he might see her everyday, but he wanted to be closer to her. He stared at the teens for a few more moments before grabbing a pillow and putting it between the sleeping couple. He didn't want anything else to happen while he wasn't there.


End file.
